Osama and two friends, Stephen Botros and Shadi Saeed, thought to be under 18, were forced to pay EGP 3,000 (US$380) each for bail, Watani quoted lawyer Hamdi al-Assyouti as saying.

At the time of the incident, special police investigators claimed the three had “endorsed a new way to proselytise and to convert passers-by to Christianity”. They were charged with “defamation of religion”.